Preparing a home for sale can mean a lot of different things depending on what state or province you live in, but for the most part, there are 10 basic things that will add maximum value to the final price when you sell it on the open market.
1. Accentuate Curb Appeal
Suzana Wade from Locate Property claims that the most important thing to preparing the home for sale starts with the roadside appeal. The final price of your home can be heavily influenced by how appealing and attractive it appears from the road.
Good curb appeal is key to selling a house as quickly as possible for its highest asking price. “It’s important to make sure that grass is cut regularly, fertilize the lawn, the greener the better, manicure the shrubs and trees, and keep your house looking neat. This is our biggest single tip that amazes Suzana Wade just how often it is overlooked.
2. Remove Clutter
All the clutter has to go. It is amazing how much “stuff” accumulates in a typical home over time and if you were coming to look at it for the first time then you might wonder how anyone actually lives there. Hire a storage unit for a few months and relocate all of the unnecessary items so that we can present the home if the best possible light.
3. Professional Home Staging
House staging involves making your home look ‘lived in’ and inviting, with great care taken to ensure that it appears as if someone really does live there.
The effect of this kind of housing staging can be quite striking on buyers, lots of potential buyers will visit your house just to see how nice it is. Home Staging really “sells” the home.
4. General Home Maintenance
Keep your property in good shape for resale by maintaining it regularly and keeping it looking nice will minimize major problems later on. You don’t have to do extensive renovations or anything expensive to increase the value of your home, but you will have to maintain it regularly.
5. Get a building and pest inspection
Before you list your home for sale, ensure you get a building and pest inspection done upfront. This way you can address any problems or issues that may arise before bringing the buyers through.
6. Remove the Building and Pest Inspection clause from the contract
Now that you have the report, ensure that the agent distributes it to all prospective buyers so that they can make their offers with all the relevant information but it is a common tactic for buyers to use the use report to negotiate the final price once they have control of the property. Give them the report, remove the clause. Simply put, the final price will always be higher. You’re welcome.
7. High-Quality Images and Video
Yes, you want to put your best foot forward and actually show prospective buyers what it is they are buying. These days almost everyone that is selling their property has pictures and video online so be sure that yours is of high quality.
8. Virtual Tour
Home buyers want to be able to ‘touch and feel’ the home that they are potentially purchasing. Virtual home tours today allow them to do just that. You can now tour your home online, and if you have a smartphone you can even walk through the property as well with just the tap of a button! Services like Little Hinges https://www.littlehinges.com.au, Australia’s largest Virtual Tour Agency has seen a 300% increase in inquiries since 2020 thanks to COVID.
9. Simple Renovation
Homebuyers are happy to pay more for improved features, extra bedrooms, or larger living areas. By adding a bathroom or renovating something like the kitchen you can achieve an average of 10 – 15% more for your property than if it didn’t have these improvements.
10. Appointing the right agent
Home sellers should appoint an agent that is local and has experience in the area. It’s best to keep this simple by just sticking with agents that have a track history of results that include achieving high prices for their clients. With the market and approach to selling changing over the previous years, marketing is a lot easier with focusing on a campaign online. Do your research, look a the agents with the best results and highest sales volume in the area where the property is located.
